Chief Rabbi Slams Tzohar Head David Stav

At a closed rabbinical meeting in Teveriah, Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau slammed head of the Tzohar organization, Rabbi David Stav, for his criticism of the Chief Rabbinate’s program to improve its nationwide kashrus supervision.

“He is speaking without reading [the program outline], without knowing, without understanding,” Rav Lau charged. “By the way, he couldn’t have read it, for in the first sentence [of the program outline] there appears a sentence to which he said the opposite.” Rav Stav had charged that the rabbinate’s changes would raise the expense of kashrus, but the first sentence of the program outline said that the changes would make kashrus cheaper.

“You have a comment? Come along and say it,” Rav Lau continued. “First read. Come and talk. To first come along and disqualify everything is disgusting and shameful.”

Discussing only two of the Rabbinate’s proposed reforms, Rabbi Stav had objected that a plan for mashgichim to be hired by the rabbinate and religious councils instead of by their workplaces would increase the prevalence of political appointments and expenses, and that another plan to replace mashgichim with surveillance cameras would destroy kashrus altogether.

He recommended the abolishment of the rabbinate monopoly and to allow alternative kashrus organizations such as Tzohar and the badatzim to issue kashrus certification without the need for the rabbinate certification as well.

Actually, it seems that Stav wants money. He wants his organization to certify, therefore getting a piece of the action ($$).
He’s not interested in Kashrut for its own sake. He didn’t read the proposal, he just started arguing. Korach would be proud.